


A Very Decent Proposal

by DelilahBlueEyes



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Baby Fic, Curse AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 09:17:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelilahBlueEyes/pseuds/DelilahBlueEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cursed Storybrooke AU: Mayor!Belle goes to Mr. Gold to get a baby. But she isn’t interested in an adoption…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposal

"I…. ah, I’m sorry…..?"

The small woman adjusted her spectacles on her nose and lifted a sheaf of papers onto the desk, shuffling them into order.

"Well, according to my research, your physical features combined with mine would produce a very comely child and from what I know of your political views and past experiences, the child will have a very well-rounded education. You’ve never set foot near the church or the nunnery except to claim your rent payments, and there’s also that. You are a wealthy and tasteful man, judging from your wardrobe and your car. And also I’ve seen the way you look at me in the diner and watch me walk away from the front desk to retrieve your law books in the library and of course there was that time that I came into your shop from the rain and my dress was wet and you seemed very interested in—"

"Miss French, I don’t know what—"

"Yes, you do," she insisted quietly. "You know what I want because I’ve just told you, and I know you want to because I’ve seen the physical proof myself."

A lesser man may have flushed scarlet from the bluntness of that statement. Mr. Gold liked to think that the room merely heated around him. “Madam Mayor, I really don’t have the faintest idea what to tell you about this.”

He was flattered, obviously. The mayor of their fine little town was lithe and fair and lovely and of course she’d caught his eye more than once, though he regretted now that he hadn’t thought to be more subtle about it. How could he possibly ignore her pert little breasts draped in the thin cotton sun dress she’d been wearing? Gods, he was only human. But flattered though he was, Mr. Gold was ever a realist. He was far beyond his prime, he was crippled, and he was no father material. That he knew with utter certainty. No, much as it tickled at the edges of his mind, he would have to decline this…. magnificent proposition.

"I understand." She looked down at her notes and scribbled something on the page at the top, sighing and leaning slightly back into her seat. "Well, disappointing though that is, I do have a few other candidates that I’ve considered. I suppose I should go to the hospital next. Dr. Whale has an odd schedule and I’m not sure when is the best time to speak with him."

"Dr….. Whale?" Gold struggled to speak through clenched teeth, knuckles suddenly whitened against the handle of his walking stick. Not moments ago he’d been sure of his answer. But not now. Not now that Mr. Pretty boy cheekbones with a "doctorate" was in the picture. Somehow imagining them together was wrong. His hands on her body, her stomach swelling with a little blonde baby while the good doctor flitted here and there with his passing fancies in women. 

"Well, yes. I mean, you were my first choice but as you’ve decided against it, I’ll have to find another man won’t I?"

Something woke within him at that, something deep and dark and hungry that uncurled long fingers and stretched them all out toward the woman across the desk. Where the idea of a child with her had seemed nice but unlikely, the thought of her having a child with another was utterly abhorent. 

"It’s almost a shame that David Nolan is married….."

The creature inside him snarled it’s displeasure and he found himself oddly compelled to follow its example. She sat there with her research and her impassivity and her short skirt and her offer to be intimate and didn’t seem to have a single idea what it meant to him. But suddenly he could see it. He could see them, walking down the street together on the way to breakfast in the diner. He could see her resting on his couch with her aching feet in her lap as he massaged her tender soles, her head thrown back against the arm of the sofa…. and that of course led him to other reasons why she might toss her head and shut her eyes. Why her lips would part and her cheeks would flood with color. The fact that she’d come to begin this little dialogue with him indicated that she found him attractive. That took out half the work of beginning a relationship in one (relatively) painless swoop. The rest would come with time. The comfort and the trust and the…….

"Yes."

She blinked owlishly up at him through her delicate spectacles and he knew that he’d drawn her out of her plans to propose the same arrangement to Whale. Good. Best she get all thoughts of that scrawny fool out of her mind now.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Yes," he repeated, forcing the tremor that took up in his knees away from his voice. "Yes, I will give you your child."

The smile that lit her face was radiant and she nodded calmly, though her shoulders seemed to relax fractionally. “Excellent. I’m so- I’ve very happy to hear that. Shall I take the paperwork to the town notary?”

"Ah, I’d prefer to look it over myself, if you don’t mind. Dear old Merl isn’t as sharp as he used to be." And besides, he’d like to comb through the contract before either of them signed it. He had some loopholes and stipulations to slip in here and there that not even the sight of her legs sliding apart as she stood from his dusty desk chair would entirely distract him from.

She left him with a manilla folder filled with various legal forms and the contract she’d drafted and he escorted her to the front door of his shop. 

"Thank you," she whispered when he opened the door for her, and stepped outside.

She returned a moment later, though, to rock up onto her toes and press a lingering kiss to his cheek. Her hands landed lightly against his shirt front and her hair swung into his face, tickling him. But she smelled like vanilla and some soft perfume and gods, was she warm. He watched her clicking down the sidewalk in her low-heeled shoes until she was out of view. Then sense returned to him and the world tilted sickeningly until he had to lean fully back against the wall to catch his breath. What on earth had he just agreed to?


	2. Impulse Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Gold blinked itchy, watery eyes and shifted his weight away from his sore leg. He looked down at the brightly colored, pastel tubes in his hand and sighed. Just days ago he’d agreed to help the mayor conceive a child. Then he’d begun to panic.

Mr. Gold blinked itchy, watery eyes and shifted his weight away from his sore leg. He looked down at the brightly colored, pastel tubes in his hand and sighed. Just days ago he’d agreed to help the mayor conceive a child. Then he’d begun to panic. Babies required constant supervision, babies were delicate and cried a lot and made messes. But babies were soft and trusting and perfect. And their baby…. His breath caught in his throat at the thought. Their child. His child and hers. He prayed the babe got its mother’s nose, though he couldn’t picture those enormous blue eyes on such a tiny face. Their child would have the entire town wrapped around its little fingers and he smiled when he thought of being able to spoil a little blue eyed boy or girl with all it could want. If Belle would allow it, of course. His smile faded as he remembered that he’d only been asked to help create the child. The paperwork she’d given him had given the impression that she would allow him to see the child if he wished, but much more work had been put into severing any legal ties that would tangle things. It made trying to weave his way securely into her future much more difficult than he’d anticipated.

 

He wouldn’t force a relationship on her, but Mr. Gold was an opportunist before anything else. It hadn’t been chance that she’d come to him before any other man in town, despite his age and handicap. It meant something, and he had every intention of trying to make the most of what he’d been offered while he had the chance. He would keep Belle in comfort while she was pregnant, he would support her emotionally and make sure she stayed healthy. When the baby was born, he would be there to help her, little though she may need it. For all that she was a successful, sharp business woman, there was something comforting about her. She would make a wonderful mother, he knew it as surely as he knew the world spun. And he would do his damnedest to become a good father, to prove that Belle hadn’t made the wrong choice with him.

He’d stood in the diaper section for a while trying to decide between premature and newborn diapers, unable to even think of their baby being born premature. He’d glanced at the bottles and pacifiers briefly, but Belle would take care of that for the first year or so. He’d had to clear his throat and force his thoughts away from thoughts of Belle holding their babe to her breast, seeing her smile down at the greedy little fist pressed against her skin as the babe suckled.

He’d contemplated purchasing a crib also, but the sheer tackiness of the butterfly stickers on the plastic crib bars had turned him away again. Surely there would be a better option later. There was no use for toys any time soon, and videos would only collect dust on the shelf if he knew Belle. So he stood in the aisle with two small tubes of diaper ointment in his hand because it was the only thing his overstretched mind could think of. Babies wore diapers. Babies got rashes from their diapers. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to have something on hand for it in advance. But should he buy the formula for sensitive skin? Or perhaps the baby would be born with eczema? Was that a concern for the skin under the diaper? Christ, he had hardly slept a handful of hours a night since he’d agreed to this arrangement, and clearly it was taking it’s toll. After one of the store associates passed near enough to recognize him and what it was he was shopping for, he set both tubes back on the shelf and hurried out of the store. Bollocks to this. Belle made a tidy salary as the mayor, and if there was anything she needed, she’d let him know. Now it was time to go home and sleep. He still had work to do on the contract before she returned to collect it. And besides, looking like death was not very conducive to his plans. He wouldn’t want her to be distracted by the bags under his eyes while he attempted to seduce her.


End file.
